Hi candycane. My sister and a few friends used Accutane and loved it. It did make their acne more or less just go away when other things couldn't.*BUT*Accutane is a pretty serious treatment with pretty serious potential side effects. While it does (for many people) reduce acne almost permanently, this also means that the other effects of the drug (eg, dry eyes, ear problems, joint problems, etc.) may last almost permanently as well. I have heard plenty of instances of that happening.

I had seriously considered using it, but after reading up, it didn't seem worth the risks to me personally. I'd rather just have zits. Everyone's risk/benefit analysis can be different, of course...

candy, are you on birth control? Certain BC pills had a great effect on my skin where acne meds didn't.

After years of trying to avoid this thread I've finally given in. I admit it, I'm 22 and I have the skin of a 15 year old. Who maybe splashes cooking grease on her face.

Seriously, I don't know what the deal is. I've tried lots of stuff. I've used Benzac wash which stopped working after a while, Retin-A to try get rid of the scars left behind by my old zits, I've taken tetracycline which made absolutely no difference. I've tried going the natural route and used both Fresh Farmacy and Herbalism from Lush and I think the Fresh Farmacy just made it worse.

I was just wondering if anyone here has tried Accutane. My best friend was on it for 3 months to treat her backne and she says it also helped her face. According to her, she now rarely gets pimples and if she does they seem to clear up really quickly.

Hi everyone, I just wanted to say that I love the discussion on here and have come pretty close to buying Clinique in the past few weeks due largely to what LoveMyPugs has been saying. However, I'm under a few budget constraints right now, and also just tried something new that I wanted to post here.

So I think I have bad acne, but it's actually only 4 or 5 pimples at a time plus some scarring, and a few more around my period which sucks! And for the past few months I've been getting boils, which sucks even more. My friend mentioned that she uses hydrogen peroxide as a toner and it's made a huge improvement (she has clear skin), adn I've been using it for a month and a half or so and seen a really big improvement in the size, severity, quantity and healing rate of my acne. And in complete and utter desperation to get rid of the boils, I took a q-tip, dipped it in rubbing alcohol, and used it on the boils and other acne, and the boils are gone and it's made a big difference to how quickly my other acne goes away. I figured that if they use alcohol in blemish treatments I might as well try the straight version, and it worked good.

I thought you were asking what is an exfoliant so I attached the definition of exfoliant and then I was like, "Shit. Posting a link to Dictionary.com is pretty nasty. I'm sure she knows what an exfoliant is." Then I reread your post and realized that you wanted to know when to use it during your routine. So I changed my post. It wasn't that bad. It looked worse typed then it sounded in my head.

I recently had a facial, which was so good. I was so relaxed at the end, I fell asleep.Anyways, I got suckered in (as I always do) to buying the over priced products at the end. I purchased some hydrating masque and exfoliant. My question is, when exactly do I use the exfoliant? Before washing my face, or after?I don't want to call and ask because I always feel like such a newb at spas.Thanks!

I'm not sure where you are from but if you have a Macy's near you can get Clinique there. The good thing about getting it at a store is that the salesperson will ask you some questions about your skin and they will tell you which line is probably best for your skin type based off your answers. You can also also answer these questions on line and the site will suggest a product line but there isn't really anyone to answer questions unless you are willing to wait for an email response. Plus the salesperson actually SEES your face infront of them. They may be able to pick up on problems you are unaware of. For example I thought that I had bad acne but really at the worst I'd have 5-8 bad pimples at one time usually around my period. The rest were just residual markings from pimples that had cleared. The toner the saleswoman suggested for me helps to clear them up faster making my skin look even. So instead of having a face full of marks, my marks are clearing up and so are my few pimples. Octinoxate is right about going onto the site and finding a retailer near you. Good luck! I hope it works for you the way it's worked for me.

Proactiv (sic - the lack of "e" on the end still drives me nuts ) worked amazingly well on me when I first starting use it (well, as soon as I realized that you only have to use, like, a pea-sized amount of the repairing lotion; anything more, and my skin dried out), but it's not as effective as it used to be, which I understand is a common complaint people have about the product, though I think that happens with many products across the board once you get too used to something.

You're also supposed to wear sunblock (which you're supposed to do anyway, I guess - I did, but I'm anal that way) - even in the winter - every day because it makes your skin more sensitive to the sun, which can also make it way too drying.

I may eventually switch to Clinique (RL friends have also recommended it), but I'm going to wait awhile first. Even now, it's still the best thing I've tried.

Octi, I would say it's irritated follicles seeing as I get them on my arms, upper stomach-ish under bra area, and thighs in less ouchy forms. Those are more like whiteheads/clogged hair follicles. Me booty bumps can get rather irritated and swell up a bit. Sometimes I can get one on my love handle or back fat fold, ya know. Areas where moisture builds up. I used to get the whiteheads on my face when I was younger that would manifest in red/warm patches. I've tried the body scrubs... I may return to them.. L'Occitane has a great almond and lavendar one, as well as the Alba scrub. I'd like to know of the product you were referring to! Thanks if it's not too much trouble.

I switched to Clinique from Proactive as well. Clinique is such a better quality product. It just seems more natural to me. It smells better, feels better and just seems to bring about change quicker. I hate the way proactive felt on my face. The lotion was so thick and drying. The cleanser was gritty and smelled bad. The toner didn't seem to exfoliate enough for me. I was just very unhappy with Proactive. I think if you switch to Clinique you will be much happier and see better results. That's just my opinion though so you don't have to take my word for it.

Hey pugs, thanks so much for the info on the clinique line! I think I'm gonna wait til i run out of this proactiv stuff in a couple of weeks and then go try clinique.

moonpie, are you sure the booty stuff is real acne? Like the same sort you'd get on your face? My NP told me that some stuff I used to have going on on my butt was actually more like irritated follicles, and to use this special moisturizing/exfoliating lotion on the area to keep it all smoothed out. It's a lotion you can get at the normal drugstore, but they keep in behind the counter even though it's no prescription needed. If you want I'll find out the name of it...